SMOKEY ROBINSON & THE MIRACLES/AWAY WE A GO GO TML 11044 (-67) UK MONO

The second LP credited to Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, issued between the highly successful "Going To A Go Go" and the masterpiece "Make It Happen". Title shows it was made as a follow-up to GTAGG, trying to cash in while the hype was still on. While the predecessor almost entirely had Smokey Robinson compositions this mainly consists of numbers written outside the band. It's clearly a sequel and as such not fully reaching up to its prior, lacking some of the novelty and freshness. That said - even an intermediate Smokey Robinson & The Miracles album is better than most others in the genre, at least to my taste. I have a weakness for the setting - the bright almost fragile voice to a sturdy backing always gets me. That kind of contrast may have been used for effect many times during the 20th century and after, but those guys almost perfected it. Here you also get it through a reliable Motown mono mix with very good audio - making it real. Premiere US 1966 on Tamla (TM/S 271). First UK had label as shown here and laminated flip/back cover. (TÖMÖ*) (SXÖM*)